Pump.



J. FOURNIA.

PUMP. APPLICATION FILED nu zo. 1912.

COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH c0..wAsHlNnTON. D. c.

Patented June 16, 1914.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TOI-IN FOURNIA, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK, J-ISSIGrNOR OF ONE-HALF T0 FREDERICK RANDALL GREENE, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

PUMP.

Specification of Letters Patent. i Patented June 16, 1914,

Application filed May 29, 1912. Serial No. 700,370.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, JOHN FOURNIA, a citizen of the United States, residing at Albany, in the county of Albany and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Pumps, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, forming part thereof.

My invention relates to pumps, and particularly to motor-operated pumps, and embodiments of my invention are particularly adapted for pumping feed water into boilers of steam engines, although my invent-ion is not necessarily limited to such embodiments.

One object of my invention is to provide a pump unit comprising a pump and a motor for operating the pump in which the speed of the motor is automatically controlled in accordance with the Work which is being done, and to provide simple and effective means for governing the motor and preventing it from speeding up when not under load.

Other objects of my invention are simplicity, compactness and durability of c011- struction, and reliability in operation.

Still other objects and advantages of my invention will appear from the following description.

In pumping feed water against a high boiler pressure, a relatively high-powered motor is required, and if the power of the motor remains constant, the motor will speed up when the pump 1s not under load, I

with the result that there is a likelihood of pounding and injury of parts. While this danger of injury from over-speeding is particularly present in motor driven pumps which are designed for pumping against high vback pressures, the same dangerl exists in all motor-driven pumps, varying in accordance with the power which the pump unit is designed to develop.

My invention comprehends means controlled by the fluid pressure which is developed in the pump for governing the speed of the motor by controlling the power of the motor available for operating the pump,

and more specifically by controlling the power which is applied to the motor.

My invention is broadly applicable to various motors and to various ways of governmg motors, whether by varying the power which isapplied to the motor or by varying its load.

Specifically my invention comprehends a fluid pressure motor and means controlled by the fiuid pressure developed in the pump for increasing for opening an auxiliary inlet to increase the inux of motive fluid into the motor.

My invention also comprehends various novel features of construction and combinations of parts, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

I shall now describe the embodiment of my invention which is illustrated in the accompanying drawing and shall thereafter point out my invention in claims.

In the drawing, I have shown a central longitudinal section of a pump unit embodying my invention. This pump unit is a single-acting, directly-connected reciprocative pump designed particularly for pumping feed water. The pump piston l is reciprocativeain the pump cylinder 2 and is secured to one end of the piston-rod 3, which is secured at its other end to the steam piston 4 reciprocative in the steam cylinder 5 of a reciprocative steam motor. The water inlet 6 of the pump is controlled by a check-valve 7 and the outlet opening 8 is controlled by a check-valve 9 in the usual way. Removable plugs 10 are provided in the inlet and discharge conduit to provide access to the conduits and to the check-valves. The pump cylinder 2 and the v motor cylinder 5 are connected together by a plurality of tie-rods 11, two of which are shown, surrounded by spacing sleeves 12. The length of the suction stroke of the motor piston 4 is limited by a set-screw 13 in the outer cylinder head 14, and the length of the forcing or work stroke of the piston is similarly limited by a set-screw 15 in the inner cylinder head 16.

Live steam enters the valve chest 17 through a live steam pipe 18; and a slidevalve for alternatelyconnecting theopposite' ends of the steam cylinder 5 with the live steam and eXhaust passages, as will presently be described, is reciprocated by a valve-rod 19. This valve-rod 19 is reciprocated by a valve-operating piston 20, to which the valve-rod is secured and this valve-operating piston is reciprocated in a steam chest cylinder 21 on the cylinder head 16. To reciprocate the piston 20, live steam is alternately admitted to and exhausted from the opposite ends of the steam chest cylinder 21 under control of motor-operated Y tap valves, as will now be described.

A branch live steam pipe 22 leads oi' from the live steam pipe 18 and enters the valve chamber 25, which communicates with a passageway 27 and a branch passageway 28 leading to the end of the steam chest cylinder 21 farther away from the valve-chest 17. Another branch live steam pipe 24 leads off from the live steam pipe 18 and enters the valve chamber 26, which communicates with a passageway 29 and a branch passageway 30 leading to the end of the steam chest cylinder .21V nearerv the valve-chest 17. Communication between the lower valve chamber 25 and the passageway 2 7 is normally prevented by a tap-valve 31, which is normally held in closed position by a spring 32, and this tap-valve 31 is mounted on the end of a tap-rod 33 which extends through the passageway 27 and through the cylinder head 16 into the steam cylinder 5 in position to be actuated by the piston 4 at the end of its forcing or work stroke. Vhen the piston 4 thus strikes the tap-rod 33, it opens the tapvalve 31 aga-inst the tension of the spring 32, and at the same time forces a piston valve 34 on the tap-rod 33 over so as to close an eX- haust passage 35. Live steam thereupon passes through the branch pipe 22, the

4 duit 29.

chamber 25, the passageway 27 and the branch passageway 28 into the steam chest cylinder 21, and forces the piston 20 and valve-rod 19 and slide-valves over to the position opposite that shown in the drawing. A leak-vent 36 to the atmosphere is provided behind the piston valve 34 to assure atmospheric pressure at all times against the back of'this piston valve. A similar tap-valve con struction is provided to control communication between the chamber 2.6 and the con- The tap-valve is held closed by a s ring 38 and is on the end of a valve-rod 3f, the end of which projects through the casing in the path of a valve-operating collar 38 on the piston-rod 3, which is so located that it actuates the valve-rod 37 ljust before the piston 4 reaches the end of its suction stroke. The tap-valve is thus opened and steam is admitted tothe end of the steam chest 21 through the pipe 24, the chamber 26,

the passageway 29 and the branch passageway 30, and the valve-operating piston 20 is thrown to the position shown in the drawing and the motor is reversed. This tap valve construction is not claimed herein, but is described and claimed, with features of valve structure, in United States Letters Patent No. 1,066,483, issued to me on July 8, 1913, for a fluid pressure motor.

The slide valves on the valve-rod 19 in the valve-chest 17 comprise a. live steam valve 39 controlling the openings 40 and 41 through opposite valve faces, and two exhaust valves 42 and 43 at opposite ends of the valve-chest 17 and controlling the openings 4.4 and 45, respectively, by entrance therein and emergence therefrom. rlhe inlet openings 40 and 41 provide communication 'between the live steam inlet pipe 18 and passageways or conduits 46 and 47, respectively, leading to opposite ends of the steam cylinder 5. The exhaust openings 44 and 45 provide communication between the exhaust outlets 48 and 49, respectively, and the passageways 46 and 47. The valves 39, 42 and 43 are so disposed on the valve-rod 19 that, in the position shown in the drawings, the conduit 46 is open to the exhaust outlet 48 and the conduit 47 is open to the live steam pipe 18. Steam is therefore being admitted to the end of the cylinder 5 behind the piston 4 t0 force the piston on its travel toward the right, as shown in the drawing, or on its forcing or work stroke, while the opposite end of the cylinder is exhausting. When the piston 4 strikes the tap-valve rod 33 and reverses the valve-operating piston 20 and, hence, the slide-valves, as previously described, the connection of the opposite ends of the cylinder 5 will be reversed and the piston 4 will be caused to travel in the opposite direction or on its suction stroke, in the usual way.

To assure that the slide-valves will always be stopped in position ready for starting, means are provided which tend to place the valves in starting position. These means are those for which United States Letters Patent No. 974,872 were issued to me on November 8, 1910, and comprise a piston 50 and stem 51 in a cylinder 52, the stem 51 extending in alinement with the valve-rod 19 through the cylinder 52 into the steam-chest 21, and a spring 53 normally pressing the piston 50 and the stem 51 down so that the end of the stem 51 presses downward against the upper side of the piston 2O and forces the piston 2O and the slide-valves down to their eXtreme or starting position opposite to that shown in the drawing. Then steam is turned on and the water is started, steam is admitted through a branch pipe 54 into the cylinder 52 on the side of the piston 50 opposite to the spring 53, and this steam forces the piston 50 and the stem 51 back against the tension of the spring 53 and thereby removes the stem 5l out of the path of the piston 2() and leaves the slide-valves free to reciprocate. When the steam is turned olf, the spring 53 again becomes effective and the stem 51 is again forced down against the piston 20 and places the slide-valves in starting position.

Since the live steam openings 40 and 41 in the slide-valve chest are of the same size, it is apparent that live steam will enter the cylinder 5 and the pressure will rise at the same rate in either position of the slidevalves, and that the piston 4 will be reciprocated at a uniform rate of speed as long as it is doing no work. When the pump is working and the piston 4 is traveling toward the right, the pump is discharging, and hence the motor is under load, while the movement of the piston in the opposite direction meets with little resistance since the pump is on its suction stroke. The steam piston 4 is, as shown, of considerably larger diameter than the pump piston l, since the motor has to develop suflicient power to force the water through the discharge opening 8 against a high boiler pressure. Therefore, Awith uniform admission of steam to the opposite sides of the piston 4, the piston will travel relatively slowly on its forcing stroke, and as soon as it starts back the load is removed and its rate of speed consequently increases, with the result that the motor and pump pound and injure themselves. In pumping hot water, the suction stroke must be comparatively slow, or'otherwise steam will be evolved from the hot water, due to the fall of pressure, and will then create a pressure on the pump piston which is added to that on the motor piston and the piston will be fo-rced back so rapidly that injury is likely to result, while the efficiency of the stroke will be diminished by reason of the presence in the pump cylinder of steam, diminishing the suction effect and occupying space within the pump cylinder to the exclusion of water. Furthermore, a high pressure in the work stroke of the motor is only desirable when the pump is working, since, if the pump has drawn in no water, the suction stroke merely creates a vacuum or reduced pressure in the pump cylinder and on the forcing stroke there is no work to do and the stroke is assisted by atmospheric pressure. To overcome these objections, I provide for automatically controlling the motor by the pressure present in the pump in the construction shown specifically embodying my invention.

I normally admit a small head of steam to both ends of the cylinder 5 through the slide-valves, and I provide means controlled by the water pressure developed in the pump for admitting auxiliary steam to the motor on its work stroke. rIhe openings 40 and 41 are of restricted area and, as shown in the drawings, a column of water is provided in a pipe 55 leading from near the discharge end of the pump cylinder 2 to a two-headed check-Valve 56, the upper valve-head of which controls a passageway 57 leading from a source of live steam to the outer end of the cylinder 5 so that steam entering the cylinder through this passageway will augment the steam pressure on the discharge stroke of the pump. The upper head of this check-valve 56 is normally held down on its seat by steam pressure on its upper end so as to close the passageway 57, and is also so held by a spring 63, but when pressure is exerted on the water column in the pipe 55, this water column exerts pressure on the bottom of the lower head of the check-valve 56 and lifts the check-valve olf its seat and opens the passageway 57 and permits steam to rush into the cylinder 5 to augment that entering through the passageway 47, the lower head of the check-valve 56 serving as a water-tight piston in the cylinder 58 inthe bottom of which the water pipe 55 opens. Since this check-valve is opened by pressure of the water in the pump cylinder 2, it is apparent that, if no water is drawn into the pump, there will be no pressure exerted on the water column and no auxiliary steam will be admitted to the motor. The check-valve is opened, however, when the water in the pump cylinder is placed under predetermined pressure and remains open through substantially the entire discharge stroke of the pump, since the pipe 55 is connected near the discharge end of the pump cylinder 2. Thus an extremely sensitive and simple regulator is provided for the moto-r, operating to admit auxiliary steam to the motor only on its work stroke and then only when a predetermined pressure has been developed in the pump. The normal restricted admission of steamV causes the pump to reciprocate slowly when it is running idly and to draw in water on its suction stroke sufficiently slowly for` practical operation.

To enable the steam to exhaust from the cylinder 5 sufficiently rapidly when the motor is under load and the piston 4 is operating under the maximum steam pressure, I may provide an auxiliary exhaust valve in the inner cylinder head 16, this auxiliary exhaust valve being also under the control of the pressure of the column of water in the pipe 55. The construction shown includes such a check-valve 59, similar to the check-valve 56, in a valve casing 60- secured to the cylinder head 16, as by screw threads; and a branch pipe 61 provides communication between the water pipe 55 and the outer end of the valve casing 60. 'Ihe steam pressure in the cylinder 5 will normally act to hold the auxiliary exhaust valve 59 against its seat and maintain the valve in closed condition, and. a spring 64 will also so act, but when suHicient pressure is exerted on the water in the pipes 55 and 61, this pressure will be communicated to the outer or piston end of the check valve 59 and force the valve inward away from its seat and open the cylinder 5 tothe exhaust ports 62 in the valve casing 60.

`It is obvious that various modifications may be made in the construction shown and above particularly described within the principle andv scope of my invention.

I claim l. The combination of a reciprocative pump, a motor for operating thepump, and means operated by the fluid pressure developed in the pump for increasing the power applied by the motor to the pump on the work stroke of the pump and decreasing the power on the suction stroke of the pump.

2. The combination of a reciprocative pump, a motor for operating the pump, and means operated by the fluid pressure developed in the pump for increasing the power applied to the motor on the work stroke of the pump and decreasing the power on the suction stroke of the pump.

3..;The combination. v ofV a reciprocative pump, a fluid pressure motor for operating the pump, and means operated by thefluid pressure developed in the pump for increasing the influx of pressure fluid into the motor on the work stroke of the pump and decreasing the influx on the suction stroke of the motor.

4l.A The combination ofpa pump, a fluid pressure motor operatively connected to the pump and having a restricted inlet for pressure fluid and an auxiliary inlet for pressure fluid, means controlled by the motor for 'i controlling the restricted inlet, and means Vcontrolled by the fluid pressure developed in the vpump for controlling the auxiliary inlet.

5. The combination of a pump, a reciprocative fluid pressure motor having restricted inlets for pressure fluid at opposite ends thereof and having an auxiliary inlet for pressure fluid, means controlled by the motor for controlling the restricted inlets, and

means controlled by the fluid pressure def veloped in the pump for auxiliary inlet.

6. The combination of a reciprocative single-acting pump, a reciprocative fluidpressure motor connected to the pump, and means controlled by the fluid pressure developed in the pump for increasing the normal influx of pressure fluid into the motor controlling the Vonly on the discharge stroke of the pump.

- for exhausting pressure fluid from the motor,

and means controlled by the fluid pressure developed in the pump for controlling the auxiliary inlet and the auxiliary outlet.

S. The combination of a reciprocative single-acting pump, a reciprocative fluidpressure motor connected to the pump, means controlled by the fluid pressure developed in the pump for increasing the normal influx of pressure fluid into the motor on the discharge stroke of the' pump, and an auxiliary exhaust valve for the motor controlled by the fluid pressure developed in the pump.

9. The combination of a reciprocative single-acting pump, a reciprocative fluidpressure motor directly connected to the pump, an auxiliary inlet for pressure fluid leading to the motor, a valve normally closing the auxiliary inlet, a column of fluid controlled by the fluid pressure developed in the pump and arranged to open the auxiliary inlet valve, and an auxiliary exhaust valve for the motor controlled by the fluid pressure developed in the pump.

l0. The combination of a reciprocative single-acting pump, a reciprocative fluidpressure motor directly connected to the pump, a main inlet and an auxiliary inlet for pressure fluid leading to the motor, a valve no mally closing the auxiliary inlet, and a column of fluid controlled by tne fluid pressure developed in the pump and arranged to open the auxiliary inlet valve and to hold it open during substantially the entire discharge stroke of the pump.

11. The combination of a single-acting pump comprising a pump cylinder having inlet and discharge ports and a piston reeiprocative therein, a fluid-pressure motor comprising a cylinder and a reciprocative piston therein directly connected to the pump piston, an auxiliary inlet for pressure fluid leading to the motor cylinder behind the piston so as to augment the fluid pressure only on the discharge stroke of the pump, a valve normally closing the' auxiliary inlet, and a column of fluid leading from substantially the discharge end of the pump cylinder to the auxiliary inlet valve and adapted to open it under pressure of fluid in the pump cylinder.

l2. The combination of a single-acting pump, comprising a pump cylinder having inlet and discharge ports and a piston reciprocative therein, a fluid-pressure motor comprising a cylinder and a reciproeative piston therein directly connected to the pump piston, an auxiliary inlet for pressure fluid leading to the motor cylinder behind the piston so as to augment the fluid pressure only on the discharge stroke of the pump, a valve normally closing the auxiliary inlet, a column of fluid leading from substantially the discharge' end of the pump cylinder to the auxiliary inlet Avalve and adapted to open it under pressure of fluid In testimony whereof I have affixed my in the pump cylinder, and andauxary eX- signature in presence of two Witnesses. haust valve for the motor lea in rom the motor cylinder in advance of thegpiston and JOHN FOURNIA' 5 controlled by the column of Huid so as t0 Witnesses:

be opened under pressure of fluid in the FRED M. GREENE, pump cylinder. F. R. GREENE, Jr.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

. Washington, D. C. 

